This is an online lesson associated with activities during Solar Week, a twice-yearly event in March and October during which classrooms are able to interact with scientists studying the Sun. Outside of Solar Week, information, activities, and...(View More) resources are archived and available online at any time. This is an activity about measurements of solar activity. Learners will observe an image of the Sun and sketch major features, plot data to begin to recognize patterns of solar activity, look for long-term patterns in graphed data, compare X-ray and visible light images of the Sun to find solar features common to both sets of images, and make a prediction of what the Sun will look like in a visible light image after observing an X-ray image taken on the same day. This activity is scheduled to occur during Monday of Solar Week.(View Less)

This is an activity about the period of the Sun's rotation. Learners will use image of the Sun from the SOHO spacecraft and a transparent latitude/ longitude grid called a Stonyhurst Disk to track the motion of sunspots in terms of degrees of...(View More) longitude. Using this angular motion measurement, learners will then calculate the sunspot’s angular velocity in order to determine the rotation period of the Sun. This activity requires access to the internet to obtain images from the SOHO image archive. This is Activity 4 of the Space Weather Forecast curriculum.(View Less)

This is an activity about how the Sun can affect the Earth's atmosphere, specifically the ionosphere. Learners will use real data from a Sudden Ionosphere Disturbance Monitor, or SID Monitor, to identify the signatures in the graphed data that can...(View More) be used to determine the times of sunrise and sunset. Although the SID monitors are designed to detect SIDs caused by solar flares, they also detect the normal influence of solar X-rays and UV light during the day as well as cosmic rays at nighttime. There is a distinct shape to a 24-hour SID data graph, with unique shapes, or signatures, of the graph appearing at sunrise and sunset.This activity is part of the Research with Space Weather Monitor Data educators guide. Use of and access to a Stanford Solar Center SID monitor and the internet is encouraged but not required. Locations without a SID monitor can use sample data provided in the educators guide.(View Less)

Students examine graphical and tabular data to determine whether the evidence suggests that becomes CO² concentrations and temperature rise can be linked causally. The resource provides graphs and tabular data for student investigation and a...(View More) student worksheet. This is an activity from Space Update, a collection of resources and activities provided to teach about Earth and space. Summary background information, data and images supporting the activity are available on the Earth Update data site.(View Less)

This is an activity about the declining strength of Earth's magnetic field. Learners will review a graph of magnetic field intensity and calculate the amount by which the field has changed its intensity in the last century, the rate of change of its...(View More) intensity, and when the field should decrease to zero strength at the current rate of change. Learners will also use evidence from relevant sources to create a conjecture on the effects on Earth of a vanished magnetic field. Access to information sources about Earth's magnetic field strength is needed for this activity. This is Activity 7 in the Exploring Magnetism on Earth teachers guide.(View Less)

This is an activity about the magnetic deflection. Learners will observe and measure the deflection that an iron mass causes in a soda bottle magnetometer and plot the data. The data should show the inverse-square cube law of change in the magnetic...(View More) field. This is the twelfth activity in the guide and requires prior use and construction of a soda bottle magnetometer, as well as a six to ten pound container of iron nails (or an equivalent iron mass).(View Less)

This is an activity about the solar cycle. Learners will use X-ray data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and record the total number of solar flares in their birth month over the course of eleven years and compute...(View More) the percentage of high-energy X-ray flares which occur for each year. Learners will graph their findings to help them identify the long term pattern of flare activity on the Sun.(View Less)

This is an activity about seasonal variations in day length. Learners will graph the number of daylight hours in each month in cities around the world and compare results. They will also gain an understanding of the meaning of the term equinox...(View More) through review of the graphed data. This is Activity 6 in the Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) guide titled Real Reasons for Seasons: Sun-Earth Connections. The resource guide is available for purchase from the Lawrence Hall of Science. This activity requires use of an overhead projector and colored transparency pens.(View Less)

This is a lesson about observation. Learners will look at nine nights of observations of the positions of Jupiter's four largest moons in relation to Jupiter and construct a data graph that allows them to calculate the orbital period of each moon....(View More) This is Actividad 3.8 as part of El Universo a Sus Pies, a Spanish-language curriculum available for purchase.(View Less)

This is an activity about digital imagery and technology. Learners will create a picture using graph paper containing ones and zeroes and instruct others to reproduce it without showing it to them, just like digital technology. After, in groups,...(View More) they will work on constructing a four-color digital image of the Sun from satellite data. This is Activity J-7 of Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0: A Collection of Activities and Resources for Teaching Astronomy DVD-ROM, which is available for purchase.(View Less)